"Company before country": the mantraA phrase that is often repeated, like a motto. The word comes from a Sanskrit term referring to a sacred utterance. that Facebook founder Mark ZuckerbergSince founding Facebook as a university student, Zuckerberg has become one of the top ten richest people in the world. favoured in the early days of the company.

But last night an employee broke the commandment in a dramatic interview on the flagshipThe most important or best one in a group of things. 60 Minutes show on CBS. She revealed Facebook's secrets to the world by leaking a series of documents known as "the Facebook Files".

Some of these revelations have already provoked a fierce response from politicians.

On Thursday, members of the US SenateOne of two chambers of the US Congress. The Senate includes two representatives from each of the 50 American states. attacked the company for ignoring evidence that Instagram (which is owned by Facebook) harms children's and teenager's mental health. 

Critics of Facebook have long accused it of presenting a threat to democracy as well as individual wellbeing. The Facebook Files add to these suspicions. Here are some of their claims:

1. Facebook secretly relaxes the rules for its most high profile accounts. VIPs like former US president Donald TrumpAn American television personality who became US president from 2016 to 2020. He is running to be president again in 2024. and Brazilian footballer NeymarOne of the world's most celebrated and highly paid footballers. In 2019 he posted photos that seriously violated Facebook's policies, but was not banned from the platform. are allowed to post things that would result in a ban for ordinary users.

2. European political parties admit that they have changed entire policy platforms so that they are more likely to show up on Facebook's news feed.

3. Facebook has failed to stop people traffickersPeople who trade in humans - either as slaves or as migrants being transported in horrific conditions. and drug cartelsLarge crime organisations that control trade in drugs, especially powerful in Latin American countries like Mexico and Columbia. advertising and recruiting on its platforms.

These issues are treated as major public concerns because of Facebook's enormous power and influence. With 2.9 billion users, it has almost double the population of the world's largest countries. It is forming a legal group and even has its own currency (the cryptocurrencyA digital currency in which transactions are verified and records maintained by a decentralised system using cryptography, rather than by a centralised authority. Diem).

Yes, say some. Facebook is no ordinary company. It is a bloated monstrosity distorting global politics for its own cynical ends. "Move fast and break things," Zuckerberg famously said. Well, critics reply, he has broken quite enough: his company must be stopped, if necessary, by breaking it up.

No, say others. That is going too far. The company might have made some bad decisions, but its main role is to bring people together and make the world more connected. The real threat to democracy is governments threatening to suppress the people to whom Facebook has given a voice.